Title

Author

Date of Award

1998

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Towson, Shelagh M. J.,

Keywords

Education, Educational Psychology.

Rights

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Abstract

The present investigation examined the relationship between women's self-reports of their experiences with Premenstrual Syndrome and several factors: beliefs about Premenstrual Syndrome, feminist ideology, and adherence to sex roles. One hundred and seventeen undergraduate women completed the questionnaire. Results indicated that feminists experienced more severe symptoms than non-feminists and that the stronger the belief in Premenstrual Syndrome the more severe the symptomatology. There was no effect of sex role orientation on symptomatology. In addition, all except the 16 women who were high in masculinity and low in femininity believed in the existence of Premenstrual Syndrome without skepticism. This subgroup reported similar symptomatology to the other groups, but their subjective interpretation of these symptoms indicated that they felt less negative about Premenstrual Syndrome symptoms than their cohorts. These results were especially true for the 12 self-identified feminists who also rated high in masculinity and low in femininity. Thus, the Premenstrual Syndrome construct appears to have become somewhat of a fact for most undergraduate women. The finding that a group of women, however small, is skeptical about Premenstrual Syndrome suggests that further research into its apparent prevalence is warranted.Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1998 .H36. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 39-02, page: 0330. Adviser: Shelagh M. J. Towson. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1998.